Profile of The Experiment

The mood of The Experiment is disturbing, bleak, and tense. The plot centers around prison life, an experiment gone awry, and human nature. It is a drama, foreign, and thriller movie. In approach, The Experiment is serious and realistic. It takes place, at least partly, in a prison. The setting is Germany. The Experiment happens in contemporary times. It is originally a true story and based on a book. The movie is known for being critically acclaimed and an award winner. Note that The Experiment includes strong violent content, nudity, and profanity.

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Summary

Based on the 1971 Stanford University simulation study of the psychology of imprisonment (otherwise...
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Based on the 1971 Stanford University simulation study of the psychology of imprisonment (otherwise know as the Stanford Prison Experiment), DAS EXPERIMENT is an intense psychodrama about a group of ordinary men who volunteer to take place in a paid two-week study on the mental effects of prison life. Following a series of intellectual and physical examinations, the men are separated into two groups--eight guards and twelve prisoners--and locked into a working prison, fully loaded with cameras to capture their every move. One of the prisoners, an undercover reporter named Tarek (Moritz Leibtrau of RUN LOLA RUN), uses every opportunity to provoke the guards and collect quotes for his story, but he consistently pushes the envelope too far. As egos are bruised and machismo is belittled, the guards resort to sadistic torture techniques while the prisoners formulate an escape scheme that is laden with vengeance. The experiment inevitably goes awry (even the moderators have utterly lost control) leading to a powerful climatic battle between good and evil.

Director Oliver Hirschbiegel keeps the film moving at a fast clip, effortlessly switching from the film to the prison cameras and even to a pair of 007-esque spy glasses worn by Tarek to reveal different angles of observation and offer the viewer a voyeuristic experience. DAS EXPERIMENT is an extreme thriller steeped in ultra-violence, murder, and suspense.
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Users Reviews

The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University....

The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University. Twenty-four undergraduates were selected out of 70 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Those selected were chosen for their lack of psychological issues, crime history, and medical disabilities, in order to obtain a representative sample. Roles were assigned based on a coin toss.[1]